Working on complex software with a lot of dependencies can be difficult, and over the years many people have struggled to install and configure all the complex components CourtListener requires. Our previous solution to this was to create and maintain the Free Law Virtual Machine, which allowed people to work in a VM with all the right software installed. Alas, keeping the VM maintained was a real burden and we weren’t the best at it. It fell into decay and without realizing it we informally stopped recommending people use it.

Today we have a new, more modern solution using Vagrant. We’re getting the last of the kinks out of the new system, but already a number of people are using it in their daily process. It has all of the dependencies installed and configured. Best of all, although your code will be running in a virtual machine like before, when you’re using this setup, you still get to use all of your favorite tools on your local machine. If you haven’t used Vagrant before, you’ll find it’s a rather magical experience.

If you’re a contributor to CourtListener it’s definitely worth checking this out. If you’re interested in becoming a CourtListener or Free Law Project contributor, there has truthfully never been a better time.

To get started, head to Github, where you can find all the details you might need. If you have any questions or run into any issues, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

This new tool was created by Dave Voutila (Github, Twitter) when he realized getting started was just too hard.